Over 40 people have been admitted to Sinamalima clinic in Sinazongwe district in Southern Province after suffering from cholera in the past one week.
Sinazongwe District Health Medical Officer Elias Chipandwe said three people out of the 44 that have suffered from cholera in the past eight days have since died.
Dr. Chipandwe told the District Epidemic Preparedness Committee yesterday that currently 20 people were still admitted to Sinamalima clinic, which has been turned into a cholera centre.
Dr. Chipandwe described the situation as serious noting that the centre admits between seven and 10 people daily.
He attributed the disease outbreak in the area to lack of toilets and poor hygiene.
He disclosed that 10 villages were affected in Malima.
Dr. Chipandwe said a team of Environmental Health Officers and Nurses have since been deployed to the area to address the situation.
He explained that the Environmental Health Officers were conducting community mobilisation to carry out hygiene promotion, chlorine distribution, and health education.
However, he said this team was facing a challenge of transport, food supply, disinfection materials and physical barriers since bridges on the Sikalamba and Nangombe streams have been damaged.
Meanwhile, Sinazongwe District Epidemic Preparedness Committee has formed a taskforce working towards containing the cholera outbreak.
And Sinazongwe Acting District Commissioner Sokoloku Daka told the committee to work hard and mobilise resources to help Ministry of Health officials meet shortfalls.
Mr. Daka said the taskforce would ensure that the communities were encouraged to have pit latrines to curb the spread of cholera epidemic in the district.
[ ZANIS ]
Cholera is a desease associated with dirt. Now that perfectly discribes our nation…dirty. No rainy season passes without cases of Cholera. Where is the sanitation? Do we care about our health? Really.
Another thing revealed here is that we dont learn. Not even when our very own lives are in danger. If we indeed were educated people, we would by now know how to avert this disease. Once in enough.
Then again, maybe we are waiting for donors. What does that say about us? Pathetic!
i think many are immuned to dirt, surely all the people living in slums would be infected with cholera during the rainy seasons, some of us wouldn’t last a day in such filth.
Pa Zed.Shame
Bushe Cholera tayashalafye mu Zambia? Very soon we will be major exporters of Cholera!!!
if you suffer from cholera then you have eaten feaces
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